Do snails reproduce by themselves?

Question

I was wondering, because about a month and a half or so ago, my daughter who is in the first grade brought home a guppy and a snail from school to keep. So we put it in the family fish tank and they've done great. Well today, she came to me and told me that her snail had a couple of babys and at fist I didnt believe her. When I looked in the fish tank, sure enough, I saw 3 other snails. But as I looked a little further around, I saw over 17 other little snails! How is this? And will this keep happening, untill there are thousands of snails in the fish tank?

Ok, Im not saying that you are lying or anything, but how the hell, did 17 other snails get in my fish tank?? This is really freaking me out!! :) I just have to find out the answer to this..Its driving me nuts

Yeah, these possabilities seem reasonable..I can accept them. But what makes the situation even more interesting, is because of the whole snail thing, my husband was sitting by the fish tank watching the snails and seeing more than we thought was there, and THEN, discovered three, maybe even more, baby guppies!! (I kid u not) I will assume that when my daughter got the guppy that she was pregnant..Jeeze..Im starting to think the water is not safe to drink around here! LOL

Answer 1

It really depends on the snail, and in some cases how recently it's been kept with other snails. Malaysian trumpet snails are hermaphrodites, meaning they are both genders at the same time. You only need one - ever! Mystery snails have both males and females, and you need both to produce young, but females can store sperm and lay fertile eggs for several moths after being separated from other snails.

You should first identify which snail species you have, then find out how it reproduces. This website can help you there: http://www.fishpondinfo.com/snail2.htm

Another thing to remember is that snails, like any organisms needs food to survive. If you don't overfeed the fish, scrape any algae in the tank regularly, and vacuum the gravel and do weekly water changes of 25% or so, a lack of abundant food will keep their numbers down.

If this is a snail such as a mystery snail or Colombian ramshorn, you could see if any pet stores in your area (not the big chains, but privately owned stores) would be interested in them.

Answer 2

I got a mystery snail for my daughter's 3 gal tank a couple months ago to help it get clean. It has done a very good job but recently it appears as though there are eggs. Just a few dots so far.. nothing like I've seen in pictures but it's hanging out in the same spot and not wanting to move much.. I just noticed what looks like eggs today. I know it seems like a bad thing from what I've read, but I'm kinda excited to see babies :) My daughter's gold fish is a few inches long and I was told might eat them anyway. If we DO get some sort of infestation then it'll be time to take the snail out and fish and do a tank clean. Or find a way to sell them I'm not sure. But thx to the poster about laying eggs months after being separated from mae because I didn't think I'd end up with babies with just the one Mystery snail. --IN SHORT, it does appear that even snails that can't reproduce on their own, CAN IN FACT store fertilized eggs for at least a couple months because that's how long we've had this particular snail.

Answer 3

How Do Snails Reproduce

Answer 4

As others have said, some species of snails reproduce asexually and don't need the presence of the other gender. And yes, they will continue to multiply until they run out of food or space.

You can control the population by removing and killing all the snails and snail eggs you see.

Answer 5

Snails are hermaphrodites. That means that they have both sets of reproductive organs, and a single snail can reproduce on it's own. This could continue to happen.
Additionally, snails are notorious for hitchhiking in live greenery. You may have had a few in your plants. Still, there is the fact that they are hermaphrodites to think about.

Answer 6

I agree that the guppy was most likely pregnant when you got it. The snails, I'm not sure about the big ones. But I know the little ones can be harmful, mostly because they multiply in number so quickly and eat everything. So if you have a big snail leave him in there, but if you have any teeny ones I would take them out. We had a snail infestation about a month and a half ago and we're still trying to get rid of them!

EDIT: Some species of goldfish will eat the snails, and goldfish can live in cooler water just like the guppies. However, they might eat the guppies too, if the guppies are small enough or the goldfish are hungry enough. If you do decide to get a goldfish or two though I would suggest buying a 20 gallon tank, since they grow to be quite large. (Usually at least 6 inches, which is a lot bigger than it sounds) If you buy one without the hood then it's usually pretty cheap.

Answer 7

Snail eggs could have been brought in with the guppy and snail. I have gotten them with live plants too. there are additives that will rid your tank of snails, but with so few I would pick them out as you see them and hold down the population that way or get a snail eating fish such as a loach .

It seems like once you have snails, they always find ways to make more,

Answer 8

My guess is that your snail is some sort of pond snail? probably latched on to a plant called an anacharis? or some other plant. anyhow most snails are hermaphrodites and can reproduce viable offspring. Mine have and i have hundreds of them in my tank. But if given the opportunity to mate, they will and will produce more genetically varied genes.

Some snails need other snails to reproduce. "mystery snails" are usually gendered. You either get male or female and have to breed the two in order to get offspring.

So to summarize, Yes some snails can and some can't.

Answer 9

Most snails are hermaphroditic meaning they are both male and female and can reproduce without another. Apple/Mystery snails require a male/female pairing to reproduce which is why they are frequently purchased as tank janitors.

It is very common (and very annoying) to have invasive snails in an aquarium. This commonly occurs when purchasing live plants for tanks. I rinse my plants in a 10% bleach solution and then rinse well before putting them in tank to keep the hermaphroditic snails out of my tank. If by chance a hitchiker gets in my tank, I pick them out, smash them and feed them to my fish. If your fish won't eat them, then you'll need to smash and trash them. DON'T flush them. They can survive the flush and become as invasive in your local water supply/septic field as in your tank.

Answer 10

several varieties of snails are asexual, meaning they can breed on there own without a mate. It is entirely possible this is what happened. Also if you recently added live plants they could have easily come in on them. They can be quite tiny and especially if you have a larger tank you may not have noticed them before. You just noticed them today because your daughter pointed them out and you got to looking.

Edit: Your guppy was almost certainly pregnant when you got her. Female guppies can get pregnant at 2 months of age so if she was kept in a tank with male guppies before you got her she would have definatly been pregnant.